Driver Chris Greenhouse and codriver Danny Norkus fought through tremendous adversity and nagging mechanical difficulties long enough to steal the 2WD win at Sandblast Rally 2018. The team had to come back from an early penalty for illegal service before the first stage had started. To make matters worse, the delay in getting to the first stage also moved them to the back of the start order which forced them to drive on a much rougher stage than the lead cars and required them to make a few dicey on-stage passes of slower cars. Their perseverance and determination would unknowingly payoff as the very fast Ford Escorts of Barry McKenna and Seamus Burke would both retire on Stage 6. But they had been carrying enough speed all day in the Dodge Neon SRT-4 to inherit first place once McKenna and Burke retired.

“We had no answer for the Fords all day,” said a visibly exhausted Greenhouse after the grueling event. “We simply couldn’t match their pace. Our only hope was to drive our own race and try to aim for the final podium position. But we knew exactly what it meant for us when we passed both of the Fords on [Stage] six. Seamus was high-centered after a spin and Barry looked to be having a mechanical, I think. Our car took an unusual amount of damage and it’s in pretty bad shape now. I wasn’t really sure it would finish Stage 8 as it developed a terrible noise and vibration in the driveline somewhere. Luckily for us, our service crew was on their game and they worked very hard to get us patched up and back out on the stages all weekend. This was a true team effort, probably more so than any rally I’ve ever done in 13 years of competition.”

Chris and the Platto Motorsport are now working hard at an extensive re-prep for the next event. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based team would like to thank the following: